If you are starting a community club and your support team is in place, you are ready to begin!

1. Plan a demonstration meeting.
The demonstration meeting shows prospective members how a club meeting is conducted and what the program can do for them. Information about demonstration meetings is on pages 9-10. Schedule it two to four weeks in advance, which will give you plenty of time to publicize and promote it. Purchase promotion materials from Toastmasters International.

2. Publicize the demonstration meeting in the local media.
Send announcements to local daily and weekly newspapers. For radio and television stations, send public service announcements (available from Toastmasters International) with taglines that announce the date, time, and place of the demonstration meeting.

3. Contact the local Chamber of Commerce
Contact the local Chamber of Commerce for a list of organizations (Lions, Rotary, Jaycees, etc.) and invite their officers to the demonstration meeting.

4. Place posters and other announcements on community bulletin boards.

5. Publicize the meeting to membership “clusters.”
These are groups of people (employees of small businesses, church groups, military personnel, etc.) who could not support a Toastmasters club by themselves, but can contribute a strong nucleus of potential members.

Forming a Corporate Club

The key to building a corporate club is to obtain the support of a person who can authorize the
formation of the club.
1. Contact the personnel director, the person in charge of human resources, or even the company president. (If you're not certain who would be the appropriate person to contact, ask the company switchboard operator or receptionist.) Then make an appointment to see that person.

2. Be prepared for the meeting. You must be able to convince the person that Toastmasters training helps employees improve their communication and leadership skills. Obtain a list of companies that now host in-house clubs for their employees (available on the Toastmasters International web site, www.toastmasters.org.). Be able to show the low cost of Toastmasters training compared to what the company might spend on another type of training. If you have access to a portable VCR and monitor, you may want to show the Toastmasters video “Everybody's Talking About Toastmasters,” which offers real testimonials and demonstrated highlights of a Toastmasters meeting and points out the benefits of Toastmasters training to companies.

3. Get the company's support. If the person you meet with does not have the authority to authorize the formation of a club, find out who does and offer to meet with that person and to provide any information that person will need to make the decision.

4. Once you have obtained the company's philosophical support, finalize its financial commitment and support. Determine what portion of the club costs the company will pay. This may vary. Usually the company pays the charter fee and new member fee for each member, while members pay their own dues. Some companies pay for the banner and other club materials.

5. Arrange a time and place to conduct a demonstration meeting. Nearly all companies and government organizations have conference rooms which are suitable for Toastmasters club meetings.

6. Invite company officials to attend the demonstration meeting to show prospective members that the organization supports the new club.

7. Publicize the demonstration meeting on company bulletin boards, in newsletters and memos, and via email. Some companies will put Toastmasters information in employees' pay envelopes if you provide the fliers or brochures.